Google is currently working on a deal with major movie studios to offer pay-per-view video through its YouTube Store, which quietly launched earlier this year. The report came from the Financial Times, which said movies would be available on a pay-per-view basis for around $5 a pop.

The YouTube Store has been focusing on independent filmmakers, but the addition of mainstream studio movies will provide a more broad offering, set to compete with Apple's new iTV / set-top box that will replace Apple TV. Also in YouTube's sights: Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.

There's also a Android set-top box in the works, and the new movie studio deal could help drive content for users to watch.

Earlier this year, YouTube kicked off its YouTube Store rental service with videos from the Sundance film festival, allowing users to rent independent films. It had a slow start, but YouTube kept the service alive, building up the service with niche content providers.

The videos are also available in high def, so any watching experience can be high quality. This was probably part of YouTube's grand vision when they made their high def (HD) videos even more high def late last year, with the announcement that they were upgrading from 720p to 1080p.

One of the most interesting parts of the service is the use of YouTube channels, similar to the regular YouTube video channels. You can subscribe and get videos flowed right to your YouTube Store home page, surfacing the types of films you like.